Failed to install ghostscript

[daniel.miau@…]

I was not able to install ghostscript (using the command sudo port install ghostscript) on two Macs (both OSX 10.9.1). I checked the error log and find the following line strange (please also see the attached error log):

:debug:extract Executing command line:  cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_private_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_print_ghostscript/ghostscript/work" && /usr/bin/gzip -dc '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/ghostscript/ghostscript-9.10.tar.gz' | /usr/bin/tar -xf -

The -dc option of gzip seems to decompress the package to standard output as opposed to the file system, is it something expected?

I have tried to manually decompressed the package located at '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/ghostscript/ghostscript-9.10.tar.gz' and the package seems to be ok.

The sudo command gives the permission to write to the directory '/opt/local/var/macports/build/_private_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_print_ghostscript/ghostscript/work' too.

[ryandesign (Ryan Carsten Schmidt)]

Yes, MacPorts is designed to decompress archives to stdout, which is then fed via a pipe (|) to tar which extracts the files. This is the same for most ports.

Something unique is happening on your system that's causing the problem you're experiencing. I have no problem extracting ghostscript on Mavericks, and the port doesn't do anything special at extract time.

Do other ports exhibit the same failure for you or just ghostscript?

The log you attached is not from a clean attempt; as it says at the very top of our ticket filing instructions, that ​could very well cause problems. Clean ghostscript and try again.

If that doesn't help, check that the /usr/bin/tar and /usr/bin/gzip programs function correctly.